Fall 2012 Pennsylvania NOW Times

Pennsylvania NOW Times Fall 2012 -

Happy New Year and Thanks for Your Support: Summary of Accomplishments

Happy New Year!  Today is my (Joanne Tosti-Vasey’s) last day as President of the Pennsylvania NOW, Inc.; the Pennsylvania NOW Education Fund; and the Pennsylvania NOW PAC.   I really have appreciated your support over the 18 years of my tenure as both President and Treasurer of NOW here in PA. 

As part of passing the torch to our new President, Julia Ramsey, I’d first like to summarize the past  six years.  I will post the new leadership information in a second post.

We have done some awesome, successful work over the last few years. 

1.       We pressured Penn State University to change their policies towards all forms of campus violence.  In 2006, as a result of this pressure, PSU did create a zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of domestic and relationship violence, sexual assault, and stalking on campus.  However this policy hit some rather bumpy spots, particularly within the Athletics department.  As of result of the allegations of child sexual abuse against former PSU football coach Jerry Sandusky in November 2011, we have once again weighed in on calling for the University to fully investigate these allegations, to review policies and reporting methods of campus violence, and to include all forms of campus violence in both the investigation and upgrading of policies and reporting.  You can read the most recent joint National NOW/PA NOW statement here as well as a copy of the letter to the PSU Board of Trustees detailing both the history of our involvement in this issue and our call for a broader, full investigation into all forms of campus violence. It is time to make sure that NO form of campus violence – sexual assault, relationship violence, or stalking – is ever again tolerated. Against any child. Against any adult. Anywhere, including at Penn State.

2.       After a high school senior posted an online tabloid in 2006 discussing the breast and hip sizes, sexual proclivities, and sexual diseases of 26 female students, Pennsylvania NOW worked with a parent of one of these young women and with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission to force the Mt. Lebanon School District to conduct sexual harassment training, to set up meetings with the parents of the girls that were harassed to provide input on how to change the policies surrounding sexual harassment, and we worked with the college where the boy matriculated (along with six of the women who were harassed) that resulted in a 4-year stay-away order.  The superintendent and high school principal also lost their jobs as a result of their failure to properly handle this case of sexual harassment.

3.       In collaboration with many women’s organization, we worked with the City of Pittsburgh to craft a zero-tolerance, police-perpetrated domestic violence ordinance in 2007.  This ordinance was created after three police officers who had current or prior histories of domestic violence were promoted.Su

4.       We worked with Philadelphia NOW, the PA Prison Society, and Senator Daylin Leach to pass the 2010 state law that prohibits shackling of incarcerated pregnant women in their 2^nd and 3^rd trimesters who are incarcerated in prisons and jails throughout the state.  And in Centre County, I advocated for even stronger protections in the Centre County Correctional Facility than are provided in the state law. As a result of this advocacy, any pregnant woman incarcerated in Centre County at any point in her pregnancy will not only not be shackled, but she also will not be tasered.  For details on what this 2010 law and Centre County Prison Board policy do, read a summary in one of our earlier blogs. 

5.       We provided testimony to the PA’s Independent Regulatory Review Board on the 2007 proposed regulations for sexual assault services in emergency rooms.  As a result of this testimony as well as testimony from the Women’s Law Project, Planned Parenthood, and the PA Commission for Women, hospitals must post signs if they refuse to provide emergency contraception to rape victims and must provide them with transportation to another facility where they can receive EC if they want it.  If a hospital refuses to provide EC, they are placed on a PA Deptartment of Health online list of hospitals denying full sexual assault services.  Prior to the new regulations going into effect, about two-thirds of hospitals in PA did NOT provide EC in the ER.  Now only 11 hospitals in the state refuse to provide EC in the ER.

6.       We worked with State College Borough in 2007 and 2011 to create one of the most comprehensive sets of anti-discrimination ordinances in the country.  The employment ordinance includes marital status, familial status, family responsibilities (protections for people who need to take care of or are assumed to be taking care of another adult family member), gender identity, and sexual orientation in addition to the state-level protections.  The fair housing and public accommodations ordinance includes marital status, familial status, gender identity, sexual orientation, and legal sources of income in addition to the state-level protections.  Also in 2011, we helped to fine-tune State College’s proposed inclusionary (affordable) housing ordinance to reduce the number of forms of identification from 5 to 2 for lower income people to apply for inclusionary housing units.  This ordinance also provides the ability for domestic partners to apply for this housing if they have registered with the borough’s Domestic Partnership Registration that was also initiated this year.

7.       We worked with Allegheny County Council in 2009 to pass a county-wide anti-discrimination ordinance that includes marital status, familial status, gender identity, and sexual orientation (but no family responsibilities protections) in addition to the state-level protections in employment, housing and public accommodations.  Also got them to include source of income in housing.

8.       In Spring 2009, we protested the make-up of Governor Rendell’s Stimulus Oversight Committee. Initially, this committee only had 1 woman, 1 person of color, and only people who lived in Allegheny County and southeastern PA.  A coalition of women’s organizations and people of color organizations asked to have the committee expanded to add women, people of color and people from other sections of the state.  We were only partially successful; 1 more woman and 1 more person of color were added to the committee.

9.       We gave written testimony on August 30, 2011 to the House State Government Committee opposing Rep. Daryl Metcalfe’s “National Security Begins at Home” anti-immigration bills.  PA NOW focused on the effects of these bills on children in low-income families and on victims of domestic violence and sexual assault (including women who have been trafficked).  As a result, there are some decent amendments being proposed to these really bad bills that we will continue to oppose.

10.   I co-authored through the National NOW Foundation and the NOW Disability Rights ad-hoc Committee an article entitled “Reproductive Health Justice for Women with Disabilities” in the 2011 Center for Women’s Policy Studies Barbara Faye Waxman Fiduccia Papers on Women and Girls with Disabilities.  I also co-authored the Pennsylvania Commission for Women’s “Status of Women in Pennsylvania” reports in 2004 and 2009 that were distributed to the Pennsylvania General Assembly, Governor Rendell, and to the public. Unfortunately, since Governor Tom Corbett shut down the all four advocacy commissions (the Pennsylvania Commission for Women, Governor’s Advisory Commission on African American Affairs, Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian American Affairs, and the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs) on July 1, 2011 and the Commission’s website was taken offline. As a result, none of their reports or publications are available for public access.

11.   We monitored and lobbied in Harrisburg on all forms of legislation dealing with women’s economic justice, budget and taxation, education, health care, immigration, human trafficking and ending racism, lesbian rights, reproductive justice, shackling of incarcerated women and children, violence against women, and voting rights. Summaries of some, but not all of these bills can be found in our Legislative Reports that appear in our semi-annual Pennsylvania NOW Times. Copies of these newsletters for 2010 and 2011 can be seen by clicking on each of the PNT links at this blog on the upper left side of the page.  We have done this advocacy as a single organization as well as in coalition with

a.       Pennsylvanians for Choice on issues related to reproductive justice, fighting the new PA TRAP law, and opposing restrictions on abortion access in general and in the new health care law);

b.      Value All Families, led by Equality Advocates  and the PA ACLU, to support  expanded statewide hate crimes and anti-discrimination laws that would add gender identity and sexual orientation to both laws and to oppose multiple attempts to create discrimination in the PA Constitution by defining marriage as “the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife and no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized;”

c.       Pennsylvanians Opposed to Vouchers to oppose legislation that would unconstitutionally give public funds to private and parochial schools though giving vouchers to parents to pay for their children’s private education;

d.      Health Care for All PA to advocate for passage of single-payer health care.

e.      Better Choices for PA to advocate, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, that lawmakers close tax loopholes and end special interest tax breaks before making deep cuts to schools and literacy programs, colleges, the environment, health care, and services for women; and

f.        Pennsylvania Immigrant and Citizenship Coalition to oppose anti-immigrant bills that threaten the lives of anyone, especially women and children, who look like they might be undocumented.

12.   We also attended and participated in monitoring tension, acts of bias, and potential hate crimes as a member of the Pennsylvania Tension Task Force.  The Task Force is headed by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, and the Pennsylvania State Police.  In both 2003 and in 2009 we also made presentations before the Task Force on Pennsylvania NOW’s history and on gender-based hate crimes.

We also have had some setbacks.  The most recent one was last week’s passage and signing into law Pennsylvania’s new TRAP – Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers law. We will work in coalition with Pennsylvanians for Choice to stop this undue burden law from going into effect.  We are still fighting more potential attacks on marriage equality, school vouchers, immigration, voting rights and access, reproductive justice and healthcare.

We will continue educating the public about women’s rights and equality through the Pennsylvania NOW Education Fund.  We will continue our advocacy through Pennsylvania NOW, Inc.  And we will work to replace enough members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly to once again have a legislature that is concerned about and works for the betterment of all people’s lives and not just that of corporations.

It’s been a great six years.  Thank you all and

Happy New Year!

Event Registration Online for Pennsylvania NOW Convention

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Pennsylvania NOW Convention just 3 Weeks Away with TWO Featured Speakers: Terry O'Neill and Sioban "Sam" Bennett

The Pennsylvania NOW Convention “United We Rise” is just three weeks away.  It will be held on Saturday, October 1, 2011 at Crowne Plaza‐Bucks County ♦ 4700 Street Rd ♦ Trevose, PA 19053.
 
PA NOW 2011 Convention Invitation BIG NEWS!  We now have confirmed two GREAT featured speakers! Our Featured Speakers will be Terry O’Neill, National NOW President and Siobhan “Sam” Bennett, President and CEO Women's Campaign Forum & 2008 PA Congressional candidate.

Sam will be our featured speaker at the PAC luncheon that starts at 11:35 am.  Siobhan "Sam" Bennett, President/CEO has served as the President and CEO of the Women’s Campaign Fund (WCF) and its affiliated programs The She Should Run Foundation and WCF PAC since March 2009. Under Sam’s leadership, WCF’s combined budget has more than doubled and the organization’s programmatic reach has expanded to every state in the country and been featured in national syndications, including USA Today and over 200 AP newspapers. Sam has lent her unique perspective as a candidate at the local and federal levels to broaden WCF’s impact on women leaders at all levels of government who support reproductive choices and options, and women who may run for office in the future. Cost for the luncheon is a minimum of $50/person.

Terry will be our featured speaker during the afternoon plenary.  Terry O'Neill, President, National Organization for Women is a feminist attorney, former law professor, and an activist for social justice. O'Neill oversees NOW's multi-issue agenda, which includes: advancing reproductive freedom, promoting diversity and ending racism, stopping violence against women, winning lesbian rights, ensuring economic justice, ending sex discrimination and achieving constitutional equality for women.

We also have a great line-up of workshops that include the following topics:

• Voting Rights, Removing Barriers to Voting, and the Elections process
• Caregiving Care for Caregiver
• Health Care issues including single-payer health care and reproductive health and justice
• Collaborating with other feminist organizations
• School Vouchers and Violence in Schools.

Please spread the word!

Cost for NOW members to attend the Convention is $50 with a sliding scale down to $0.00.  Non-members can register for the Convention for $70.00, which includes a one-year membership in NOW.

To register, you can download this registration form (see below). After completing the form, either mail or email the form with your check/credit card number to our Treasurer, Pamela Macklin.  If you want to pay online for the PAC and/or the luncheon you can do so by credit card at our main website.  Go to http://panow.org and click on the "Donate" button.  Then send the completed registration form to our treasurer at pmacfish@aol.com.
Registration Form for PA NOW Convention and PAC Luncheon
Note two deadlines.  The guaranteed reduced rate for hotel reservations ends on September 15 ($99/night + tax); call the hotel at 1‐215‐364‐2000  to make your reservation. People interested in the PAC luncheon need to reserve their seat at the luncheon by Friday, September 23.  You can either pre-register or register on-site for the convention plenaries, workshops, and cocktail party.  If you are putting your check in the mail for the PAC luncheon, please email our Treasuer at pmacfish@aol.com and let her know that you put the check in the mail to ensure she adds your name to the PAC luncheon.

And here are the directions to the hotel.
Direction Card Crowne Plaza

Again…

Join us at Pennsylvania NOW’s 40^th anniversary convention ON OCTOBER 1 and Please spread the word!

Thank you and see you on October 1.

United We Rise! Pennsylvania NOW Convention on October 1, 2011

We need and will rise to fight the War on Women that is currently being waged against women in the US and here in Pennsylvania. A war that includes: 1) women continuing to earn only 78% of men’s salaries, 2) Congress and the PA General Assembly’s attempts to take away our reproductive rights;  3) Threats to public education; 4) etc.

Join us at our biennial convention October 1, 2011 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Philadelphia Bucks County, 4700 Street Road, Trevose, PA 19053 (215-364-2000).  We will be focusing on this war on women and how, United, we can fight back.

Lodging is $99 + tax/night; deadline for this rate is September 15.  To receive this rate, contact the hotel and mention Pennsylvania NOW when you make your registration.

This all-day conference will include workshops focusing on reproductive rights attacks, school vouchers, single-payer health care, maternity care, and care giving, as well as working in coalitions, voting, and election work to make sure our united voice is heard. In addition, we will be electing new officers, holding a luncheon PAC fundraiser, voting on the proposed by-laws change, and hosting a cash-bar reception in the evening.

ELECTIONS

We will be holding elections for President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, & three At-Large Executive Committee members.  The four officers must run together as a slate.  If you are interested running for office, you must contact our Elections Committee. Chairing this committee will be Cindy Purvis (814-460-3568, cindypurvis@velocity.net). Lois Herr (717-371-5721, herrlk@me.com) and Irene Boyle (215- 913-0108) are the other two members of this committee.

PA NOW PAC FUNDRAISER

We have moved the traditional PAC fundraiser from Sunday to Saturday so that more people have a chance to attend if they are not staying overnight.  The keynote speaker at the PAC luncheon will be Siobhan “Sam” Bennett, President and CEO, Women’s Campaign Forum and 2008 NOW PAC-endorsed Congressional candidate from Allentown, PA.

The luncheon will also present current and past NOW PAC-endorsed candidates to the attendees.
This fundraiser will help get out our Voters’ Guide and to also support our endorsed candidates.  Cost is a minimum $50.00/person.  You can use the form below to send in your registration. You can also register online with your credit card for the luncheon at http://panow.org/PAC_file/PANOWPAC.htm.  Then follow-up the online payment with an email to Treasurer Pamela Macklin, pmacfish@aol.com, saying your PAC donation is for the PAC luncheon. Deadline for registering for the PAC luncheon is Friday, September 23.

REGISTRATION FEES

NOW member registration fee is $50.00; early registration by August 26 is $40 in honor of Pennsylvania NOW’s 40th anniversary.  Non-member registration, including a one-year membership is $70.00.  Current members can register and attend the convention on a sliding scale down to $0.00. 

Register online with your credit card at http://panow.org/contribution.htm.  Please follow-up all online payments with an email to pmacfish@aol.com,  saying your “donations” are for your registration and/or PAC luncheon.

You may also register by printing out and mailing in the registration form pictured below.  You can also contact us at panow@panow.org and we will email you a full-size copy of this registration form.

Registration Form for PA NOW Convention

Contraception is Prevention

From Raising Women's Voices...

Contraception is Prevention: Make Sure Health Reform Treats It That Way

The new health care reform law is lowering the cost of preventive health services by eliminating co-pays and deductibles for these services in all new insurance plans. Amazingly, however, contraception is not yet included in the list of preventive services exempt from this kind of “cost sharing” – even though birth control is one of the preventive services that’s most critical for protecting women’s health.

This summer, U.S. Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will decide whether contraception should be added to the list of preventive services that are exempt from co-pays and deductibles under health reform. She will receive a recommendation from medical experts at the Institute of Medicine in July and is expected to issue a ruling in August.

Take Action Today:

Tell HHS to add contraception to the list of preventive services exempt from insurance company co-pays and deductibles so that comprehensive contraceptive care will be available at no additional cost.

Sign our petition at http://www.raisingwomensvoices.net/contracpt-is-preventn-petition/

Mobilize your friends and neighbors to speak out on this issue!

Between now and when HHS announces its decision, you can help secure this women’s health victory by raising the visibility of this issue in your community. You can make sure that policy makers in Washington hear the message loud and clear– comprehensive contraceptive care should be exempt from cost-sharing, just like other medically proven preventive health care. Raise the topic at community meetings and educational forums on health reform and other places where women’s health is being discussed. Here are key points to make

• Women strongly support removing co-pays for preventive health care services.
• Contraception is essential preventive care for women, and better access to comprehensive contraceptive care leads to better health for women and their babies.

The Case for Having Contraception Exempt from Co-Pays and Deductibles

 Eliminating cost barriers to contraception will prevent health problems for women and families. Cost-sharing requirements, like co-payments, make people, especially low-income people, less likely to get health services, including preventive care and prescription drugs.1

In 2009, 30 percent of sexually active low- and middle-income women reported having put off a gynecology or birth control visit to save money; one-quarter of those who used the contraceptive pill reported saving money by using the method inconsistently.2

In states that made it easier for low-income women to afford contraception by extending Medicaid family planning coverage to more people, there was a dramatic drop in the incidence of short birth intervals (a year or less between babies) for women in the program. Shorter times between a birth and a subsequent pregnancy make preterm birth and low birth weight more likely, which has serious negative consequences for the babies’ health.3, 4

There is broad public support for making contraception available at no additional cost. Public opinion research shows that 84 percent of adults nationwide believe family planning services, including contraception, are important to basic preventive health care services. This strong support crosses many demographic lines: 5, 6

·         77 percent of Republicans, 88 percent of Independents and 93 percent of Democrats agree.

·         77 percent of Catholic women voters say insurance should cover the full cost of contraception

·         Latinas and African American women ages 18-34 are almost unanimous in their support for this policy (89% and 92%, respectively).

Medical and public health experts agree with the public – contraception is prevention.

There is a strong public health consensus that contraception is an essential tool in preventing bad health outcomes for women and children. The CDC cites family planning as one of the top 10 public health achievements of the 20th century, noting that access to contraceptive services and supplies is responsible for expanding intervals between births, “contribut[ing] to the better health of infants, children and women.”7

“Contraception is an essential and basic preventive health service; it reduces the number of unintended pregnancies and thus the need for abortion.”8

Association of Reproductive Health Professionals

References

1 Swartz K, Cost-sharing: effects on spending and outcomes, Research Synthesis Report, Princeton, NJ: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2010, no. 20

2 Guttmacher Institute, A Real-Time Look at the Impact of the Recession on Women’s Family Planning and Pregnancy Decisions, 2009. http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/RecessionFP.pdf

3 Conde-Aguedelo A, Rosas-Bermudez A and Kafury-Goeta AC, Birthspacing and risk of adverse perinatal outcomes: a meta-analysis, Journal of the American Medical Association, 2006, 295(15):1809-1823.

4 Zhu BP, Effect of interpregnancy interval on birth outcomes: findings from three recent US studies, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 2005, 89(supplement 1):S25-S33.

5 Survey Findings on Public Support for Family Planning, Lake Research Partners, June 3, 2011

6 Fully Covering Rx Birth Control, June/July 2010, Hart Research for Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

7 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Achievements in public health, 1900-1999: family planning, Morbidity and Mortality

Weekly Report, 1999, 48(47):1073-1080.

8 http://www.arhp.org/about-us/position-statements#11

PA Senate Votes Yes on Mensch Amendment and Attacks Women's Health Care

The Pennsylvania Senate just debated and passed the Mensch Amendment to SB 732.  Right after the vote, the Senate went into recess until 1 PM on Monday, June 13.  We expect the vote on the full bill early next week; it will then be sent to the House.

This amended bill, if and when it becomes law (the Governor has said he will sign it) will shut down the 22 free-standing abortion clinics throughout PA.  This amendment requires all free-standing abortion clinics to meet the standards for the Ambulatory Surgical Centers in addition (and in some cases, in contradiction) to the Abortion Control Act, the Ambulatory Gynaecological Surgery Facility Regulations, and the MCARE Act which they already have to follow.  You can review these regulations below (Thanks to the Women's Law Project for gathering this information):

How Abortions Are Currently Regulated in PA




The votes on the Mensch Amendment were as follows.  Aye votes are votes that will shut down the clinics and lead to more back-alley abortions.  No votes were votes in support of women's health.  As with SB 3, Senator Earll (R) was not present and did not vote.

AYE (Anti-Choice Votes)

Y ALLOWAY (R)

Y ARGALL (R)

Y BAKER (R)

Y BLAKE (D)

Y BROWNE (R)

Y BRUBAKER (R)

Y BROWNE (R)

Y CORMAN (R) 

Y EICHELBERGER (R)

Y ERICKSON (R)

Y FOLMER (R)

Y GORDNER (R)

Y GREENLEAF (R)

Y KASUNIC (D)

Y MENSCH (R)

Y ORIE (R)

Y PICCOLA (R)

Y PILEGGI (R)

Y PIPPY (R)

Y RAFFERTY (R)

Y ROBBINS (R)

Y SCARNATI (R)

Y SMUCKER (R)

Y SOLOBAY (D)

Y TOMLINSON

Y VOGEL (R)

Y WARD (R)

Y WAUGH (R)

Y WHITE DONALD (R)

Y WOZNIAK (D)

Y YAW (R)

Y YUDICHAK (D)

NO ( Pro-Choice Votes

N BOSCOLA (D)

N BREWSTER (D)

N COSTA (D)

N DINNIMAN (D)

N FARNESE (D)

N FERLO (D)

N FONTANA (D)

N HUGHES (D)

N KITCHEN (D)

N LEACH (D)

N MCILHINNEY (R)

N SCHWANK (D)

N STACK (D)

N TARTAGLIONE (D)

N VANCE (R)

N WASHINGTON (D)

N WHITE MARY JO (R)

N WILLIAMS (D)

 

 

This is the wrong response to what allegedly happened at Gosnell’s clinic in Philadelphia. Instead of preventing another Gosnell “house of horrors,” this bill will hurt women.

• It will not improve patient safety;
• It will force safe providers to close;
• It will increase the cost of an abortion by as much as $1,000;
• It will force women to seek care in other states or from marginal or illegal practitioners;
• It will create two overlapping sets of regulations that are in conflict with each other and in violation of the Abortion Control Act; and
• It will have the harshest impact on the poor and rural women of Pennsylvania.

It’s now time for you to call, write, and/or email your Pennsylvania State Senator.  Contact information for your legislator can be found here.  Tell your legislator that this bill is wrong, will put more women in danger, and will likely shut down the safe providers.  

VOTE NO on SB 732.

Action Alert: Two Anti-Choice Bills Up for Vote on Monday May 23 in PA Senate

We have just been advised that the Pennsylvania Senate is scheduled to vote on two abortion-related measures on MONDAY AFTERNOON, MAY 23rd.
The first bill is SB 3 which would ban abortion coverage in any health care plan in the new health care exchanges created with the new Federal health care law. The second bill is SB 732. It would license abortion providers, create a consumer complaint system, and provide for unannounced Department of Health inspections prior to licensing and in response to any reported serious events.
Please contact your state Senator and tell him/her to vote NO on both SB 3 and SB 732. The message for each bill is slightly different. You can find your Senator's contact information at http://bit.ly/FindPaLeg. See below for details.

Messages to Give to Your Senator on SB 3

SB 3: This bill would ban abortion coverage in the insurance exchange to be set up by 2014 as part of health care reform, even if the insured pays for a separate policy with her own money. You can review our previous blogs on this bill here, here, and here. There are two sets of messages to tell your Senator:

MESSAGE 1:

SUPPORT the following amendments to Senate Bill 3

1. Complying with Federal Health Care Law Amendment:

Insurance coverage for abortion may be purchased through the health insurance exchange using private funds pursuant to the funding and segregation rules set forth in Section 1303 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

2. Insurance Choice Amendment:

An insurance plan shall neither be required to provide nor prohibited from providing insurance coverage for abortion services.

3. Health Exception Amendment:

In cases in which the woman became pregnant through an act of rape or incest, or where, in the good faith judgment of the physician, an abortion is medically necessary for reasons other than rape or incest.

Message 2:

VOTE NO on SB 3; Women need insurance coverage of abortions. Senate Bill 3 would:

• Prohibit any insurance company that contracts with the health care exchange from providing coverage for abortion services

• Prohibit this coverage except in cases of death or rape or incest that has been personally reported

• Prohibit a woman from using her own private money to purchase abortion coverage, though this separation is mandated by the Nelson amendment to the federal health care reform law – the Affordable Care Act.

Messages to Give to Your Senator on SB 732

SB 732: This bill would license abortion providers, create a consumer complaint system, and provide for unannounced Department of Health inspections prior to licensing and in response to any reported serious events. We have major concerns about the harassment potential SB 732 presents. It may be made even worse if Senator Mensch gets his way and  amends the bill to require abortion providers upgrade to ambulatory surgical facility standards; this amendment, just like HB 574, if passed, will likely cause most of our 20 free-standing clinics to close, curtail the services they provide, and/or increase the cost of a procedure beyond many women's reach.

MESSAGE 1:

VOTE NO on Mensch Amendment TO SB 732.

MESSAGE 2:

VOTE No on SB 732 due to its potential to harass clinics and invade women's right to privacy.

And finally, here is the overall message for both SB 3 and SB 732

Pennsylvania law should support the provision of safe, legal abortion and not stigmatize the procedure and push it into the hands of illegal, dangerous practitioners who threaten and endanger women’s lives and health. The situation in the Gosnell clinic happened because the PA Department of Health was not enforcing existing regulations. If we want to avoid more “clinics of horror” like the one in Philadelphia, then we need to urge our senators not to support these unreasonable proposals that will in turn hurt women rather than help them.

Allow women to continue their full reproductive health care coverage (NO on SB 3) and oppose onerous additional regulations that could send women to unsafe and unregulated or out-of-state providers (NO on SB 732).